Ron Arad’s letters released

JERUSALEM — Letters from missing Israeli airman Ron Arad to his wife and daughter have been released to mark 25 years since his capture.

The letters were written in 1986, during his first weeks in captivity. They were handwritten on pages torn from books to his wife, Tami, and his daughter, Yuval, then 15 months old, according to reports.

The family decided to release the letters, which were shown on Israel Channel 2 on the evening of Nov. 3.

Arad was shot down over Lebanon in 1986 and held captive by the Shiite terror group Amal. He is widely presumed to be dead.

In one letter, Arad promises that he will return to his family and never leave them, even if it means not flying again. In another letter Arad tells his wife that he had dreamed about walking together with her and that it made him happy for a few moments.

Some sections of the letters were blacked out at the family’s request. Arad reportedly also had tried to provide clues to his whereabouts in the letters.

Photocopies of the letters were given to the family three years ago during a prisoner exchange that brought the bodies of Israeli soldiers Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser, killed in July 2006, back to their families.